Tender: Drilling for additional geothermal wells on Azores expected Jan. 2019

EDA Renováveis, S.A. is an affiliated company of the regional electric utility EDA – Electricidade dos Açores, S.A on the Azores an island group in the North Atlantic belonging to Portugal has announced that it expects to release a drilling tender during January 2019. The goal is to award the provision of drilling services for geothermal wells at the Ribeira Grande Geothermal Field on Sao Miguel Island, as well as at the Pico Alto geothermal field on Terceira Island, on the Azores.

EDA Renováveis, S.A. operates three geothermal power plants: Ribeira Grande and Pico Vermelho plants at Sao Miguel Island, with a combined net capacity of 23 MW and representing 43% of the electricity consumed on the Island and Pico Alto power plant, located at Terceira Island, with a net capacity of 3.5 MW representing about 12% of the electric consumption of the Island.

The campaign is designed to drill up to 8 geothermal wells: 3 production wells to saturate the power capacity installed at Ribeira Grande power plant (13 MW), 2 geothermal production wells to expand the power capacity of Pico Vermelho power plant to 15 MW and 3 geothermal production wells to saturate the actual power capacity installed in Pico Alto power plant and accommodate a possible expansion.

With the execution of this investment plan, the role of geothermal is expected to become even more significant in the Azorean power market, providing self-sufficiency to the archipelago and contributing towards the achievement of the European goals in what concerns renewable energy.

ThinkGeoEnergy and Enerchange are holding a geothermal conference on Terceira Island in the Azores in May 2019.

Source: EDA